DFLA General

The Pregnant Women Support Act - the Pregnancy Assistance Fund (PAF) is one of our proudest accomplishments. Signed into law as part of the Affordable Care Act, 17 States received PAF grants and are now helping pregnant women. It is not enough to simply oppose abortion; we must provide support and provide options for women facing unplanned or crisis pregnancies.

Senator Casey (D-PA) introduced legislation to expand the PAF. Please contact your Senator and urge him or her to support S. 144, the Pregnancy Assistance Fund Expansion Act.

BACKGROUND:

DFLA proposed a comprehensive plan that will reduce the number of abortions by 95% in the next 10 years by promoting abstinence, personal responsibility, adoptions and support for women and families who are facing unplanned pregnancy.The 95-10 Initiative seeks to reduce the number of abortions in America through Federal, state and local efforts as well as support and encouragement to volunteers and dedicated people on the front lines helping pregnant women. Much attention has been given to ending abortion or keeping it legal. We believe that we must do more to reduce the abortion rate by helping and supporting pregnant women.

Preventing pregnancy is an important part of reducing the abortion rate in America. There are several ways to address prevention, but there is no clear consensus because of ethical, religious or personal reasons. There are several bills before Congress that address pregnancy prevention. While we have not endorsed a particular bill, we support finding the most effective way to reduce unplanned pregnancies. We cannot deny that abstinence is the only sure way to prevent pregnancy, but we also cannot turn our heads and pretend that our children are not engaging in risky behavior or the fact that contraception is not 100 percent effective. The Federal government has made a commitment to support prevention efforts and allocated arecord $288.3 million in FY 2005 for family planning under title X. The program provides access to contraceptive supplies and information to all who want and need them. A priority is given to low-income persons.

Supporting Pregnanat Women is critical to reducing abortions in America. Pregnant women who wish to carry their children to term have not received that same commitment from the Federal government. We support helping pregnant women who wish to carry their children to term but because of lack of resources believe abortion is their only option. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), Congressman Lincoln Davis (D-TN) and Pro-life Democrats in Congress who share this same commitment introduced the Pregnant Women Support Act in the U.S Senate and U.S House. The legislation is a comprehensive approach to provide support for pregnant women who want to carry their child to term. Most of the provisions were included in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) under the Pregnancy Assistance Fund (PAF).

establish a toll-free number to direct women to places that will provide support;

collect accurate data on why women choose abortion;

makes grant money available to states for pregnancy counseling and childcare on college campuses;

provide accurate information to patients receiving a positive result from prenatal testing;

require the State Child Health Insurance Program to cover pregnant women and their prenatal children;

makes grant money availabe to states for free home visits by registered nurses to new mothers.

Protecting Children is critical. We must protect our children by passing the Child Custody Protection Act, continue to promote Safe Haven laws and support funding for programs such as the Abandoned Infants Assistance.

Who We Are

We are the preeminent national organization for pro-life Democrats. We are the pro-life voice and wing of the Democratic Party.

We are:

Pro-life: We believe in the fundamental worth, dignity, and equality of all people. We believe that the protection of human life is the foundation of human rights, authentic freedom, and good government. These beliefs animate our opposition to abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, embryonic stem cell research, poverty, genocide, and all other injustices that directly and indirectly threaten human life.

Democrats: We believe in the core values and principles of the Democratic Party. We are committed to freedom and justice, security and prosperity, equality and community, and hope and progress. We are proud to be members of the party that created the New Deal, Fair Deal, and New Frontier. We share the party's commitment to the Four Freedoms: freedom of speech and religion, and freedom from fear and want. We look to continue and perfect the party's commitment to the most vulnerable members of our society.

Pro-life Democrats: We believe in the legal protection of unborn life and a comprehensive, bipartisan approach to reducing the number of abortions in America and around the world. We believe in supporting women and children, strengthening families and communities, and protecting the environment. We favor eliminating unfair discrimination, improving education, and preserving the American dream for all Americans. We believe in the elimination of the death penalty, euthanasia, and embryonic stem cell research.

We believe in honest, efficient government that compliments the market and civil society to build a strong economy that benefits all Americans. We believe this can be achieved through consistent growth, sensible regulation, fair taxation, and adequate wages, along with efforts to ensure the equality of opportunity, a reduction in poverty, and the existence of an effective social safety net that guarantees that all people have sufficient access to food, shelter, healthcare, and life's other basic necessities.

Globally, we oppose tyranny, terrorism, genocide, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, human trafficking, and all other unjust acts of violence and aggression. We support international cooperation, the spread of democracy and human rights, and the empowerment of women.

In representing pro-life Democrats within the true "big tent" party, DFLA works across a broad spectrum of life ethics. We recognize that people of good faith have different approaches to these issues; therefore, we refuse to use a single issue as a "litmus test" to exclude those who would otherwise seek common ground with us on the expansion of human rights. We encourage all people committed to the common good to work together to protect human life at all of its stages.

What We Do

We mobilize Democrats at local, state, and national levels to:

elect pro-life Democrats to office

support pro-life Democrats while in an elected position

promote a pro-life plank in the Democratic Party platform

achieve pro-life legislation with the help of national and state pro-life Democrats

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DFLA Mission Statement

Democrats For Life of America advocates and supports programs and policies that respect and promote life from conception to natural death. This includes, but is not limited to, opposition to abortion, capital punishment, and euthanasia. Learn more...